A total of 6,000 Arab athletes will compete in 29 disciplines in the 12th Arab Games, which will be officially opened here today by the Emir of Qatar.
Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE NOC and the head of the country's delegation to the Games, will represent President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the opening ceremonies in response to an invitation from the Emir of Qatar.
The athletes will represent 21 Arab countries following the withdrawal of Syria after the Arab League suspended their membership following the political turmoil in their country.
It is the first time the Arab Games are being held in a Gulf country after Qatar won the hosting rights following a tough competition with Lebanon.
"Qatar can guarantee a greater success to the Games, judging by the state of the sporting facilities they have." Othman Al Sa'ad, the Secretary General of the Arab Federation for Sports, said.
The Arab Games is the biggest sporting event in the Arab world and started in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1953, organised by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees to help improve the technical standards of the Arab athletes and bring together the brotherly nations.
Egypt lead medals
It was planned to be held every four years, but political problems and financial difficulties made the regional tournament unstable and, in the past 58 years, it was held only 11 times before the 12th Games in Doha, which are scheduled to run until December 23.
The quadrennial multi-sport event made steady progress with the increase of competitions and competitors, as only nine countries and 625 athletes (all men) competed in the first Games in Alexandria.
Egypt has hosted the Games three times, while Morocco, Lebanon and Syria have all played host twice.
Women athletes were first allowed to take part in the Games in the sixth version in Rabat, Morocco, in 1985, while the number of competitions reached 36 in the last Games in Cairo in 2007, as new sports such as camel racing, bowling and modern pentathlon were introduced.
The Games stopped for 11 years from 1965 (Cairo) to 1976 (Damascus) following the Arab-Israeli war in 1967 and after the fifth Games in Syria it was halted for nine years until 1985. It again stopped for seven years before the Games returned to Damascus in 1992.
Egypt lead the standings of the medals won in all the Games by 985 medals including 504 golds, followed by Syria with an overall 789 medals including 279 golds, Tunisia 660 medals and 225 golds, Morocco 589 including 222 golds and fifthy spot is held by Algeria 672 with 201 golds.
The Games are being organised and supervised by the Arab Federation of Sports.
Full list
Events table
The competitions in the 12th Arab Games are: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Bodybuilding, Bowling, Boxing, Canoeing, Chess, Cue Sports, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Goalball, Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Judo, Karate, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
Tennis and ladies' volleyball have already started, while judo, table tennis, chess and rifle shooting will commence on Friday.
